Thompson on Hollywood

Trailer Watch: J. Edgar Trailer Lands, "When Morals Decline and Good Men Do Nothing Evil Flourishes"

Clint Eastwood's J. Edgar will open the AFI Fest on November 3 followed by a limited release November 9. Here are more details on the star cast. Leonardo DiCaprio plays J. Edgar Hoover, ages considerably (he spent hours in makeup) over the course of the trailer and alludes to man-love with co-star Armie Hammer (Clyde Tolson). The trailer begins with a warning; "When morals decline and good men do nothing evil flourishes."

By Sophia Savage
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September 20, 2011 5:45 AM
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DiCaprio and Eastwood Talk J. Edgar in GQ Cover Story

In the latest issue of GQ, the magazine pairs the actor and director combo from biopic J. Edgar, in which Leonardo DiCaprio suits up as the famed and defamed former head of the FBI under Clint Eastwood's direction. The film will kick off this year's AFI Film FEST on November 3 before opening wide November 11.

By Maggie Lange
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September 14, 2011 8:15 AM
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Weekly Wrap: Venice and Telluride Reviews, Pre-Toronto Buys, Lifetime Achievement Awards

INTERVIEWS:

By Maggie Lange
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September 9, 2011 10:04 AM
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LACMA Honors Eastwood, Pledges Commitment to Film

The Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA) will honor filmmaker/star Clint Eastwood and artist John Baldessari at their inaugural Art + Film Gala on November 5 as part of their stated initiative to make film a central part of the museum's curatorial program. (Really? Film Independent hired critic Elvis Mitchell to program LACMA's film series, and so far has not announced a fall program.) LACMA Trustee Eva Chow and Leonardo DiCaprio, who stars in Eastwood's upcoming biopic J. Edgar, will co-chair the event.

By Maggie Lange
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September 9, 2011 9:59 AM
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Clint Eastwood's J. Edgar to Open 25th AFI FEST

Clint Eastwood's period biopic J. Edgar will open the 25th AFI FEST on November 3. The R-rated movie, which opens limited November 9 and wide November 11, was not ready for the fall festival circuit.

By Anne Thompson
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September 7, 2011 7:59 AM
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Oscar Talk: From The Help, Rise of the Apes and Woody to the Fall Fest Circuit and Beyond

Oscar Talk is back. The first podcast of the fall season with In Contention's Kris Tapley runs for a good hour, so gird your loins, Oscar mavens, listen and weep. We cover the Cannes films, the summer releases, the Fall Festival entries and the end-of-year possibilities. We talk Meryl and Glenn and Malick and Chastain, debate the merits of sleeper Warrior and admit that we both cried over cancer patient Joseph Gordon-Levitt in 50/50. Next week we'll post from Telluride. The award season begins.

By Anne Thompson
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August 26, 2011 4:00 AM
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Meirelles' 360 To Open London Film Festival, What Will Close?

Fernando Meirelles’ 360 will be the opening night film at the 55th BFI London Film Festival, which will be the last under the stewardship of artistic director Sandra Hebron. Meirelles has history with the LFF – The Constant Gardener opened the festival in 2005 – although many Brit pundits had been expecting Hebron to unveil a world premiere to crown her final year. But that’s never been a major motivation for the LFF’s extremely popular head when it comes to programming Europe’s largest non-competitive film festival. Although the 2009 festival opened with a splashy world premiere for The Fantastic Mr. Fox, last year’s LFF debutante was Never Let Me Go, which bowed first in Toronto. The same will go for 360.

By Matt Mueller
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August 24, 2011 7:46 AM
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Oscar Watch: War Horse, Ides of March, The Artist Lead Early Gurus 'O Gold Top Ten

In advance of the coming festival season, the Gurus 'O Gold have made their first picks of the ten top contenders for best picture nominations. Here's my top ten list--with many of the films sight unseen (the Gurus list is on the jump). 1. The Artist2. Jane Eyre3, Midnight in Paris4. The Tree of Life5. War Horse6. Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close7. The Help 8. Moneyball9. The Ides of March10. Carnage

By Anne Thompson
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August 24, 2011 5:45 AM
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Directors Hating on Other Directors: Cronenberg vs. Shyamalan, Burton and Green vs. Smith

Thank you, Flavorwire, for reminding us of the dark side of creative genius. In "The 30 Harshest Filmmaker-on-Filmmaker Insults In History," Flavorwire reveals the competitive, nasty side of many beloved filmmakers. Bigmouth Kevin Smith is a dart magnet: but he gives as good as he gets.

By Sophia Savage
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August 15, 2011 8:25 AM
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Dangerous Method's S&M, Jolie's Blood & Honey, Soderbergh Killing Oscar Winners & More from EW

We culled the best soundbites from EW's Fall Movie Preview for your pleasure below, from Brad Pitt's struggle to get Moneyball made and Steven Soderbergh killing off Oscar-winners in Contagion to what Mickey Rourke has in common with the animals in Cameron Crowe's We Bought a Zoo.